Innocent Killers
by mimi 007
Summary: Shortly after the fatal attack on Konohagakure, Gaara and his siblings is sent out on a weird mission, which ends up influencing not only the three of them. Also all Konoha has to react on a weird phenomenon.
1. A mission of sand

Finally I begin that long story about my fave-character of all things that I think I have promised! It is, though, first going to be updated when I have done the beyblade-fic Bound to Change, and will be my head story beside the story Creation of Gods. I don't plan on updating it much before Bound to Change is done, though, and only sends this because it was an idea that had bugged me for quite some time and now I FINALLY knows the end.

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto, the Naruto-characters, the Naruto-plot or any Naruto-ideas. Do own this particular plot, and the OC's I might use in the story.

Warnings: As always when I write, you can be nearly sure of character-death, pain and angst. I have a special warning with this fic, as the only reason the plot got settled is because of an OC. An OC that's going to be important. My normal OC's don't have much important to the story and gets killed in time, but for the first time, I am actually going to use one of my characters for one of my own stories. I won't tell you much about him and you will get to know him through this story, but I promise you that his personality makes him anti-Mary-Sue, and that he will not EVER get to fall in love with anyone in his current state.

Hope the warning about an OC being used in the story won't make too many people flee. My own feelings about OC's are mixed, since I don't mind people making up characters in their fics, but I do mind if the OC's only function is to seduce the main character(s). But anyway, I'll let you read my idea now.

* * *

Arch 1

* * *

A mission of sand

* * *

Sunagakure was in a very vulnerable situation. The Kazekage was found dead, murdered by an ally they thought they had found, and many of their ninjas had been killed after the fatal attack on Konohagakure. A threat was lying in the shadows, a snake waiting for them to come too close, so it could sink its teeth into the flesh. And the other villages had no more trust in them, after the attack they had done, which they now had to admit looked stupid.

But the worst thing was that the biggest threat to the village was roaming the streets inside its walls.

The threat was called Gaara, and now that the former Kazekage had found peace after his unpeaceful death, Suna's demon found none to fear. Where he before had had his father's words to follow, Gaara now saw no reason to follow none, and this brought even more fear into the hearts of the average citizen of the village. It did not matter that he had become less aggressive after his experiences in the Chuunin-exams – they just feared he was planning something.

And to be honest, Gaara had no intention of keeping his path clean _yet_.

The redhead had decided he wanted to explore the bonds and the friendship he had been told about and had seen the strength of. The simple problem was that he knew none who wanted to give him a chance, except for his siblings who still feared him, and for that, and that reason only, his new, foggy dream was put in the drawer to be forgotten. A promise had been made, but not yet fullfilled. For in the corner of his mind, the true demon stealthily moved about, and Gaara still enjoyed the taste and sound and smell...

Of that little, red liquid.

After the exams, two months had passed. And after the exams, winter began to settle. But that was not what meant anything. Winter meant very little in the Country of Wind. Because after the exams, much blood from the strongest ninjas of the village had colored the doomed sand crimson and satisfied the monster that was so big a part of the young, redheaded figure they had called weapon.

For that reason, the council that controlled the village alone in the absence of the Kazekage did not know how happy they should have become, when a letter mysteriously landed on the desk of missions. A mission ranked B.

* * *

It was nighttime. Moon was big and full... And over the village, watching it, sat Gaara, on top of a roof of an unknown person's house. The pale eyes saw everything, and though he watched over the village like it was his nest, he did not treat the people like his eggs. Anyone stupid enough to move about at this hour would meet their final fate, if being at the wrong place at the wrong time. No wonder the village seemed totally silent in the night.

The stars... In the desert, rarely any clouds were visible. This meant all stars were seen, covering the earth like a giant bowl, with only the light of the full moon affecting the view to the small, silver needles. Not even a light in the city seemed on, so not even the humans could cloud the small lights covering the heaven. The sky of the night was one of Gaara's few, very, very few, reasons to move out of his room and show in the village.

And the wind... Oh, the wind looked so innocent, as it brushed in between the brown houses of the village. It brushed around him. It led sand and dust, trash and cans, around the maze of big and small streets, even alleys and roofs. But what only Gaara knew was, that there was more in the wind than only simple, normal grains of extremely small stones. No, even more important than those grains was his own sand, a handful of his grains in each current of wind.

The wind was his messenger. The sand his letter. And when his sand was stopped by something he could feel live, his only other reason to move out of his room on his own accord showed. He rose from the cold stones of the roof and began moving down, and in between the houses, insanity in his eyes as he walked to his victim.

The closer his sand told him he got, the faster his breath became, and soon, Gaara looked like he was about to hyperventilate. His pupils were small, the nose flaring, the teeth showing, and he looked more like an animal than a man at that moment. He was the monster hiding in his body, whenever the night was long as the moon beamed light.

He was the killer he had grown to be.

And the ragged breathing first stopped when he got his victim in sight. Using the sand on the ground to move closer without making a sound, he slowly breathed out, only to breathe in again. Sucking in the wind with his nose, his nostrils widening as he did so. The smell of his victim... Alcohol, sweat and lack of fear.

He hated when they did not fear.

The only thing stopping him from killing of the man in exactly that moment was the Shukaku, promising him that if he waited, just for a little bit, they would both enjoy the fear and pain in the man's scent, the scream of his death, the sound of his bones as they cracked and the flesh as it got smashed. And most of all, the moon in the crimson, when the blood poured from the body and mixed with his sand, filling both him, his demon and his mother with happiness.

As they closed in, the drunk man continued his walk, seeking his forgotten home. A home he did not yet know he would never reach. And the killer came closer, the gourd opening and sand seeping out... It floated forward, closing in on the victim... and when it was inches from the man, he realized he was followed and turned around fast.

The sight he got already made him scream then. Even before touching him, Gaara was able to smell his fear, and he enjoyed it, the insane eyes the only thing the man was able to see through the darkness. Eyes which closed when getting filled with pleasure.

And though unable to see it, he felt the change. He felt when fear turned into hate in the man's eyes, and his eyes shut open again, insane hate having replaced the insane pleasure. His breath came faster again, his blood boiling, and he lifted his hands into the air and growled like an animal. It was now, not before, but now, that the man turned and tried to run. Now, that he actually did face the angry beast of the sand.

But of course, he was not fast enough. The sand moved, caught him, and continued to form around him, trapping his whole body. When he was captured, the boy not even old enough to call himself a teen stepped forward and used his hand to guide the man upwards. And when Gaara was nearly directly beneath him and looked up, his hand slowly closed into a fist.

He heard it. He heard the bone crack, the muscles tear, as his hand slowly closed. And he felt the fear as it radiated down on him. The man screamed in agony. He screamed until Gaara briefly stopped his crushing him, and tears streamed down his cheeks as Gaara looked up at him with that animal-look in his eyes. Most bones in his body were broken. The only thing left of the body was a crushed mass of meat, which only breathed yet because Gaara wished so.

But that stopped. From one second to another, the hand closed all the way, and with a painful, undone cry, a crimson rain poured down over the crimson haired boy. The whole street was marked by the man's death, but Gaara did not care. He just laughed. Laughed till he had no air left in his lungs. Then, he licked the blood off his lips, the taste of iron filling his mouth. The taste of iron reminding him of-

The smile on his face froze. The picture of a blond man filling his mind. His uncle...

It required Shukaku to snap him out of it, the demon reestablishing the joy of killing. With the smirk of a monster back on his face, he guided his sand close to him and let it soak up all the blood from his skin and clothes. With a last glance to the destroyed corpse of the man, he jumped up on a new roof and used the wind to find him a new victim.

* * *

The mansion of the former Kazekage's family was a weird mansion. It had been for about six years now. During the day, nearly no sound was made, and everybody prowled about the building, and there was rarely anyone home. But in the night, there was life, and people allowed themselves to speak over whispering, and it did not matter how much noise you brought with you on your way around the house. Because Gaara was not home when the desert was dark.

But this day, as any other, Gaara sat in his room with his eyes closed, the sand buzzing lazily around him. His room was the smallest room, and the most empty, but he had never had a problem with that. And at the moment, the only think he thought of, and the reason why his sand reacted and twisted and turned in the violent shapes it did, was the lust. He wanted... He wanted so badly... Even if he had promised himself to try a new path... he wanted to kill.

His sand froze when the door opened. Under their lids, his eyes began moving, and he breathed in, as if trying to smell the presence he felt. Determining whether it was someone interesting or someone boring. Someone to kill or someone not to kill...

But at the sound of her voice, the sand began sucking itself back into his gourd. "G-Gaara. We have a mission. We are going to the Country of Rivers." It was his sister, Temari, who had come to visit him. Fear was in her eyes, and the smell radiated from her body. At least that was what Shukaku noted, and mentioned to the redhead. And those words sent shivers of thrill and even more lust through his body.

And yet it did not take long for him to stand and follow her out, using all his effort to keep the sand inside the gourd. It was so easy for him. So easy to end a life. So easy to kill and let that delicious liquid out of the young, blond woman and feel how his sand crushed every muscle and bone... Slowly. And. Painfully.

But he kept to himself and followed her out, where they met his other sibling, Kankurou. They did not bother telling the youngest member about the mission, knowing that he would not care. They already knew he was just waiting for them to meet the enemy and crush all poor beings that crossed his way. And the two also were certain that they were in the zone of danger too. And that Gaara would enjoy every person or thing he caused pain to.

What they did not know, as the siblings moved out in the pale morning of the dry, warming desert, was that Gaara had made a promise to himself. Though not making any effort to change himself from the killer he was, he knew he would try... someday. The killing hurt him nearly as much as it hurt the victims. It was his drug, his relief, turning his mind from the hate they sent him and the suffering they caused. Right now, it was his way of life and his living.

But he knew one day, he would find a way to stop. And he was very certain his siblings were the only ones who were willing... to... to...

To...

To help him.

And as they ran over the brown sand, his feet bearing him over the element lighter than them for quite obvious reasons, a side of him that was never supposed to show and never supposed to be. A side of him that Shukaku and even he himself loathed more than anything in the world, other than people with hateful eyes, forced itself over him, and he watched the backs of Kankurou and Temari pleadingly.

The remnants of the boy, who just begged of others to accept and love him, the mutilated, crippled part of him that still remained, watched his bigger siblings in a way those demonic eyes never had done before. That was until he realized what he was doing, and the turquoise eyes closed as he pushed the none-living person away from his mind.

And just in time to do so. Cause just as he opened them once more, and he could look at the world with his insane eyes again, he felt them stop. Immediately as they did so, their feet sunk into the sand, and the hot grains warmed them with the same heat as the morning desert sun. The two looked at each other, their smallest brother left on the borders of their relationships. It was Temari who had stopped them, so it was her the two boys watched.

"Basically, the mission is easy. All we have to do is near the border of the Land of Fire to find an area with this special plant. The only reason why it has such a high rank is, that it is so far away, and that the plant is so important some may want to steal it away from us when we travel give it to the daimyo..." This was the first time Gaara heard what the mission was about, and it seemed annoyingly boring. The chance of people coming to get a plant seemed low, and the chance of him getting to kill someone was just as low.

But for the first time in the morning, Gaara opened his mouth to speak. "Where is Baki?" he wanted to know. After the attack on Konohagakure, only one adult that seemed no longer to hate him. The two watched him with slight surprise, thinking that the apology he had given them after his fight with the blond Konoha-ninja had been a one-time proof of the little humanity he had in him. This was the second and maybe last time he would show interest in others.

"He had another mission," Temari informed, but the redhead already seemed to have lost his momentarily interest in the life of his sensei. Though Baki was not a man who had ever managed to teach him anything.

"So what are you stopping for?" Kankurou continued the broken conversation, looking at Temari. She just shrugged.

"I was just wondering... Since we already just pass by, wouldn't it be... 'smart' to contact the daimyo. We pass right through the city anyway, and we have gotten no information about what this plant looks like," Temari told, and Gaara felt his mood lighten a bit. That meant he certainly would get a chance of killing someone off. And that made him...

… Happy.

* * *

They walked through the biggest city in the country of Rivers, searching for the daimyo's house. It was the second day of their mission, and once again it was early in the day. The sun stood low on the skies, and the city was still trying to wake up from the night.

As they reached the house some people had pointed out for them, they stopped and hesitated. It was decided that Gaara should stay outside, since he did normally not do well with authorities and important people, and his older siblings actually left him all alone as they went in to speak with the daimyo. That left him alone with his murderous, longing thoughts and wish to do nothing more than find the strongest man in the city... and kill him or her off.

Temari and Kankurou entered the room where the daimyo was waiting, and began speaking with him. He looked nervous, and seemed even more so when they spoke about the mission. Both of the teens caught something fishy, but they did not show anything to make the man even more uncomfortable as they received the information about the plant they were supposed to collect. It was with troubled and confused minds they went out again, but they would not speak of it as long as they still remained in the city.

The problem was just that their little brother was not where they had left him. It was a situation they had experienced before, and for that reason, they both felt they should have known he would not stay at one place when so many people were around him. That only made them feel even more stupid for ending in the situation again, because they both knew they should have figured it out already. When humans were near, Gaara would find his way to disappear.

"Got to find him," Kankurou mumbled, but none of them really wanted to. Because when Gaara disappeared, the best way to find him was to follow the scent of blood. And that meant he would be in a good, but dangerous, mood when they found him. If they were unlucky, he had not gotten enough, and they feared he would attack them too.

"He will come back by himself, won't he?" Temari asked, like her brother not really wanting to go out and look for the redhead. Problem was just, that the chance of him coming back, not necessarily was big. If he was having 'fun', they risked he forgot all about the mission. So Temari already shook her head the moment she had said it. "Yes, we got to find him."

The bad thing about Gaara is, that he always leaves a trail of grains, which smells like blood and radiates of evil chakra. Normally, that was a pain if someone, who knew them, looked for them, cause that made it easy to track them. But for once, that small, annoying weakness could help them. Or maybe lead them to their death.

They moved down the streets fast, always making sure to find the special sand in the dirt. If it had not been because they knew their little brother's sand so well, they would not have been able to find him, but after twenty minutes of searching, they finally found him. In an alley, away from public eyes, he stood over the bloody mess of a body he had just tormented and killed so badly it would be impossible for even the poor man's mom to determine who it was.

"Gaara," Temari called, and when he turned, she could not help but shiver. You never got used to those insane eyes, loving and yearning to kill those around him. "You were supposed to stay outside the building. We have been looking for you for a long time now." Somehow, she managed and dared to make her voice scolding. And he even looked down to the ground, as if it really meant something for him that she gave him that tone.

"I'm sorry."

The redhead never ceased to surprise you, and he took the lead out of the city, not looking back at them to see their reaction of his words. And it took a while for the two to unfreeze and follow their little brother, and they ran to catch up to him before he reached the forest around the city. It was then they remembered their weird conversation with the daimyo of the country, and they paused to talk about it together, once again having to call out Gaara's name.

"You felt it too, did you not?" Kankurou said, turning to Temari and leaving Gaara out of the conversation again since he had not been by the daimyo like them. He listened, though, listened closely even if he did not show to them that he always followed their conversations. "He looked as though he forced each word to be said. And he was nervous. Either he was threatened to send this mission to Suna, or it is a trap and he was unhappy to see us."

As always, Gaara was happy that he listened to their conversations. Once again, he was given information that interested him without even needing to say a single word. The mission once again seemed less boring.

"I agree with your observations. But we will not turn back. No matter what the situation is, we go forward. Besides... we have Gaara. No matter what it is we meet, the daimyo's men or not, they cannot win against us." Temari crossed her arms, trying not to look too proud at the mentioning of her youngest brother. But it was hard, because though he scared her, and though he was a monster, he still was... in some way... family. "Come on, we will continue now."

* * *

Okay, this was the first chapter. First arch will be three chapters and mainly be Gaara, second arch will be five-ten chapter and evolve around Naruto, and the last and third arch will be a secret in length and story. The length of the chapters will wary a lot, some of them only 2500 words, other up to 10.000, and my OC will appear in the end of next chapter.

There is a big chance that I will send the next (and maybe third too) pretty fast, and then it will go slow. The reason is, that the OC I will introduce in the next chapter, is one of my fave if not the fave character I have ever made, and I am pretty excited about writing him again (I haven't written him in many months now, so...). Anyway, expect second chapter within a month ^^

Enjoy in joy!


	2. Venomous Plant

As promised, second chapter not too far away, right? ;) I tried to make this longer, cause there is not very much really happening, and I decided to change a bit of the things I expected happening in this chapter, so there was a little more meat on it... Hope you like it, and think it is worth reading, and that I haven't disappointed anyone.

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Warnings: See chapter one

And finally, you can get to read on again. I have nothing more to say, at least not about this beginning-thing.

* * *

Venomous plant

* * *

They had passed pretty many rivers and forests, and there had been a silence between them ever since they had left the city and decided to go right into possible enemy arms. The sun began setting, and darkness slowly began to cover the area where they moved. After a while, they decided to stop before reaching the area the plant was supposed to grow. If they were right, there would lay an ambush there. And they did not want to fight in the darkness of night.

So they stopped before the forest got totally dark, and found a good place where they could sleep for the night. "Here is a good spot," Kankurou stated, looking through the twilight at the clearing in the trees. "Then we just have to start a fire, unless you are afraid they will find us by the fire's light, Temari?"

The blond girl shook her head, knowing they indeed did need the fire to cook their food and see what they were doing. It made them obvious, and they themselves would not be able to see through the darkness surrounding them, but they had to take the risk. "I'll go out finding some dry branches," she informed, but luckily for her, she did not have to go far. Actually, she did not have to go at all. Because Gaara decided to do the good deed of the mission.

Using his sand, the crimson haired boy felt through the undergrowth of the forest. The grains picked up twigs and bigger branches and broke those, which were too big, as if they were bones in a human body. And just when Temari was about to leave to do the job she had assigned herself to do, the sand floated over to the middle of the clearing and left a big bunch of wood for them to use to the fire. And then, before any more was said, Gaara dematerialized with his sand.

Materializing on the branch of a tree besides the clearing, the redhead gave himself some privacy. Unfortunately for him, this was not the desert, and the clouds made it impossible for him to see the stars and feel the half moon's beams on him. But he was able to hear them interact, the wind lifting the words up to him. The wind his always faithful messenger.

"What was that about?" Temari said, while he could hear one of them, or maybe both, moving the wood he had collected around, getting ready for the fire. "I have a weird feeling about our little brother, Kankurou. It is... as though... he is no longer who we know him as. And I think it is a good thing, even if he still disappears without warning to kill someone. But what I don't like about it is... I have the feeling he expects something from us."

"I thought it was just me imaging things." The voice of his brother seemed somewhat relieved, and suddenly, the sound of a breathing fire filled the silence. But Gaara did not come down to be a part of them. He did not freeze. "I don't know, though... he may have changed, but it not that obvious, is it? He still acts the same way. I cannot really see what he should be wanting from us, either. It is not like he has been asking us anything directly, and he still..."

"He still is kind of freaking you out, yes. I feel the same way. Often, I wish we did not have a little brother. Life would be so different... far easier. Father would have been different, mom would be alive. And you would not have to fear for your life everyday living. If he had not been born." Temari's voice was trembling by the end, as if close to tears. She was always looking tough, but one thing was a very vulnerable subject to her. Her mom. And now also her dead father.

"I know what you mean." The redhead heard them move, and imagined his big brother moving closer to their big sister and tried to comfort her. He could hear her muffled sob, as she fought not to cry. All the siblings had learned from their father not to show weakness. The former Kazekage had been an angry man, and this had affected not only Gaara, whom he had hated, but also the two of his children he loved. "He has never caused anything... good for us."

Gaara did not know if he was moved by their words. No. He was not. He himself had wished his own death too. Their words did not hurt him. They only tickled. Only stung a little. Made him sad. Made him want to rip himself into pieces. Made him want to kill them. Only made him suffer worse mental pain than when Yashamaru tried to kill him.

No, it definitely did not hurt him.

"But..." Though Gaara somehow had found his way to his feet, with intentions of doing things he did not know what, Kankurou's continued words stopped him. Stopped him doing whatever it was he was about to. Something in that hesitant way of speaking made him hesitate too. "... But all have to live with the cards given to them. If he really is changing... and it is not just our imagination... we may... in the end... if he is willing... and maybe if we help him... if we guide him... I think... we can get something even more precious than our mother."

The redhead froze, and under him, he heard Temari sniffle. He could see how she dried her eyes and held her head up high even before her new found strength was confirmed by her tone of voice. "You know, I actually have a feeling... that you might be right."

He did not know where it came from. Did not know if it actually _had_ been from his eyes, or if it was the first drop of the light rain that was beginning to fall. But Gaara had a small drop of water running over his cheek, and even before he could catch it and taste it to confirm if it really was a tear, it fell. And it was not caught by one of the autumn-colored leaves or crooked branches as the wind guided it to land on the ground in the narrow space just between his two siblings.

* * *

The rain still fell from the sky when Gaara stopped dozing off just before the sun began to rise. His gaze fell upon his two siblings, sleeping on the other side of the dead fire, lying close to keep themselves and each other warm. He did not know what he should do. If he was supposed to wake them up and say it was time to move on, if he should make breakfast to them, how he should react on their words the day before.

He had come down from the tree when the food was ready, not letting them know he had listened. He had not known what to say or do. He did not know how react on other people, or emotions. So he had decided to let it pass.

Now, though, he once again stood with the problem of speaking and being with a human. He wanted to move on, but his view on his siblings had changed in seconds the day before without him noticing. He did not know what it was that made him so confused concerning his siblings. Like not knowing if the water on his cheek was a tear or a weird phenomenon of the weather, he did not know if he actually felt anything for his siblings, or if he may be awkward around them for other reasons.

The emotional part of Gaara was not very experienced, and he was left confused and torn, that inexperienced part of him triggered for the first time in six years. So he just continued to watch the two forms as they breathed and did what he would never be able to. He was sure even if he was given the bless of being able to sleep, he would never do it. In the time he had been fully aware of his surroundings, he could have killed them hundreds of times.

Even if he always would have his sand to protect him, and always would have, he would feel too vulnerable to ever let himself fall asleep. Too many things would be able to happen around him that he would not be aware of...

Gaara decided he wanted to see the sun rise through the thin, rainy clouds, and left the spot away from his siblings to go up in the tree again. Despite that the rain was making his sand heavy and hard to move, it was not bad enough for him to be unable to use it. And so, he came to the top of the tree the same way as before, watching the life's light rose from behind the clouds in the form of a giant ball of fire. He preferred the moon, cold and cunning and murderous...

It did not take long from when he got up in the tree till he heard movement from his siblings, but he did not glance down as he heard the rush from fabric, which told him, that it was Kankurou. Temari's sound was much different. But the redhead could not decide what his brother was doing, and the brown leaves blocked his view. Not that it mattered.

Kankurou could do whatever he wanted... Could he not?

"What are you doing?" Temari's voice broke through the silence, and the sound of her beginning to move began. While Kankurou's was a rough rush of fabric as a cause of his clothes, where he was by far the most overly dressed of the three, Temari was simply the sound of bones scraping against each other and muscles tensing and relaxing as she moved. Of course, every once in a while, there was the sound of fabric, too, but not in the same way.

"What does it look like?" Kankurou answered, and Gaara lifted his gaze from the leaves to the sun, but it was gone behind the thicker clouds as it came up in an higher angle of the horizon. The rain seemed to be stopping, and that was good news. The worst condition for Gaara to fight in was in the rain.

"It looks like you use the same old trick for the hundredth time," she snapped at him. Seemed the emotions from yesterday had left her irritable and annoyed. This was pretty normal, since it was Temari when she had just woken up after a crappy night in rain and without her nice, warm bed. "But it seems the breakfast is going to be cold this morning, too," she continued, her voice even more deadly. "No way can anyone light a fire in this crappy rain."

"This 'trick' has helped me every time I have used it, and you know it!" The two continued bickering as Temari continued getting ready to leave and destroy all evidence of humans having been here over night, while Kankurou just did whatever trick they were talking about. After a while, both were ready, and the only things missing were the food and Gaara. But since they knew they would not be able to light a fire, they already realized it would end up with a boring breakfast of cold, dry bread and dry meat.

And the redhead came nearly immediately after they called his name to find him.

"The rain stops soon," he said before he motioned for them to follow.

* * *

Frustration was the only thing able to describe what they were feeling at the moment. They had not been attacked, as they had thought they would, and they had not been able to find a single trace of the plant they were looking for. It was not in the area, but they had not met any sign of an enemy. But the two unprotected did not dare to let their guard down, despite being forced to look down to look for the plant. Gaara knew he had his sand's protection, but still, he refused to look down and just waited for something to happen. He wanted to kill, and waited for it to come.

It was supposed to be in moist places with little sun, but it was not in the undergrowth of the forest. It was supposed to be a moss with branches and small leaves, but it was not where you usually found that kind of plant. Yet, they just continued their search, just waiting for an enemy to show. But with no progress after three hours in neither finding the plant or the enemies, they decided to take a break, and sought for a place where the water did not drop from the branches of the trees.

The rain had stopped, but the forest was still soaked. They wandered a little more, until they reached a field, the tall, green grass swaying in the weak wind. Also here, the grass was still wet, but it no longer came down from above, as it did when they were in the forest. In the middle of the field, a big amount of stones lied. There was over ten of them, the gray stones the size of a big dog, and it was there they sat down to rest a little.

Gaara had done everything he could to keep his sand dry, though they were beginning to stop believing in an ambush. For whatever reason the daimyo had been so nervous around them, it seemed not to have to do with the mission. Another option was that he had heard about Gaara after the chuunin-exams and had figured out that he traveled with his siblings. It was a possibility. Another possibility could be the plant itself.

A silence roamed around them as they sat there, on the cold blocks of stone, and for the first time, Gaara began thinking about the mission. If he wanted to help them, and that was a thing he did not know if he did or did not want to do, he could use his sand to search for the plant the same way as he did in his bloodthirsty nights. Deciding it gave him the chance of finding an enemy he could destroy, he chose to try.

He did not have to try for long. When the sand began to seep out from his gourd and landed on the ground, he felt the moist and warmth of a fast-growing, living thing radiating from right under them. He stood up and stared down between the straws on the field, but the plant was nowhere to be seen. But he felt it... He felt that it glowed in another way than the grass. But his siblings just watched him with fear; afraid he might be so unsatisfied he would kill them.

Instead of making the sand attack them, he guided it under the stone and made it roll. Under it, everything had a dark, evergreen color, and small, twisting stalks with tiny leaves seemed to be everywhere. A stench of rot and old water suddenly surrounded them, something nauseating coming over the air when the plant's gas mixed with the oxygen.

Automatically, Temari and Kankurou moved off their rock, which was a clever move. The stones rumbled, and then rolled over too, the sand causing it to roll over too, and it revealed the same scene as the first. On the other stones, some of the roots of the moss had bored into the cracks of the stones. There had to be over twenty pounds of the moss, more than enough for what the mission asked them to find.

The redhead bowed over it and stretched out his hand, about to take off the plant from the stones. But when he was just about an inch away from the plant, and just about to touch it, his sand reacted, and blocked his touch. He tilted his head to the side, trying once again with the other hand, and the sand reacted in the same way. It was dangerous to touch it, and that was a fact Temari and Kankurou had picked up, too.

"It's poisonous," Temari concluded, taking her hand up to her nose to block the stench. She was catching a headache, and she was quite sure it was a cause of the plants. How, she did not know, but the knowledge of it was enough for her. "How do you move a poisonous plant? How do you bring it to someone?"

She had got the problem, but it was what Kankurou said, which was interesting.

"It must be extremely poisonous if the sand won't let Gaara touch it. Why should we send such a poisonous plant to our enemy? They claim it is a medical miracle, but if its raw form is so dangerous, they might as well use it as a weapon." His last word made the redhead look up, but the two did not notice. He had not listened, and was not sure what they had been talking about... Who they had been talking about.

"You are right, but a mis-" A wind blew past them, and Temari looked up for something. Her green eyes roamed over the field in the direction the wind had come from, and she searched for long in total silence. Until she found what she had been looking for. In the shadows of the younger trees of the forest border, something was standing, and she seemed to have forgotten about their discovery of the plant when she saw the small figure.

As soon as she stopped in the middle of a sentence, Kankurou had noticed her weird actions, but Gaara did not even look up from the moss when she began walking towards the thing hiding in the shadows. But the small figure began moving too, his steps more elegant than hers as they moved closer, and the light that had fought through the clouds gave reveal something so surprising, that Kankurou failed to mouth his warning to his big sister.

Moving towards them was only a simple boy. Or something looking like it. He was just above the size of a dwarf, his hair white as flour, his skin pale the cold of the morning of winter, but it was scarred on his cheek. And his eyes where black and white, no visible iris to part the pupil from the white in his eyes. His clothes were ragged and all black; a contrast to the whiteness that would have looked pure if a sword had not been hanging from his belt.

He took one more step towards them, and suddenly, an extreme sadness overcame Temari. Two more steps and the same feeling attacked Kankurou too. Gaara, on the other hand, did not seem to react to this change. Either he did not care about it, or he could not feel it. And the former was preferred to the latter, though the latter seemed more true.

But the redhead did not care about the boy. Or whatever it was. He did not look at him, did not value his existence after having seen his skinny body. He moved about elegantly, graceful like a dancer, but silent as an assassin. But it was not enough. It was not enough to impress Gaara. With a skinny body and small form like that, no way he would be able to even come close to the word strong.

For that reason, Temari had no chance. For that reason, they all were taken by surprise by the sound of a blade being taken from its scabbard, and the figure disappeared from sight. Gaara did not even have time to notice, before an all-black blade in the pale hand of the boy tore the skin on Temari's stomach apart. He stood on one leg when cutting her, and as she gasped and bent forward, he changed leg and kicked her head backwards.

At the sight of his sister falling, Kankurou could not help but shed a tear. It was something he would normally never care about, as they had fought together for long and both had been wounded many times. But his mood was already saddened to the brink of tears, and her wounded body did not make it better. And he had the idea that his sadness, hurt and fear came from this boy, that this weird person radiated it...

But they could not hear his fast, small words, or see the tears in his eyes as he whispered; "I'm sorry," and they did not know his deed hurt him just as much as it hurt them. And it was while looking at him, at his tears and sad face, and while listening to those words, that Temari lost consciousness.

Before Temari's lifeless form fell to the ground, the unknown took another few steps, and as he seemed to dance towards Kankurou, his speed made him nearly unable to be seen. For that reason, Gaara only manage to send the sand out of his gourd, and then Kankurou's bloodless head fell to the ground. The sand flew up to attack, but the gracious movements of the boy got out of the way as the real Kankurou untangled from the bandages on his puppet's back.

When the boy realized the oldest of the brothers still was conscious, his eyes widened in fear, and he swirled around, trying to avoid the sand as he flung out the blade again. The sand rose to block it, but the blade soared through the grains. Of course, the speed of the blade decreased an extreme amount, but his attack still came all the way through.

When the sand fell to the ground again, Kankurou had come to his feet, and he grabbed the arm he used for the sword. The boy whimpered and tried to pull himself out of the grip, desperation clear, but his arms and the rest of his body did not have the strength or muscles to do anything. But then, he managed to get the sword into his other hand, and realizing that hand was just as useable, the captor let go of his victim by flinging him through the air.

The sand still after him, he had to land on his feet, and after rolling once, he did and jumped towards the hooded of the brothers. He still avoided the sand, his speed letting him do so, though it sometimes was just barely a dodge. It did not come to Kankurou's head that his hateful, monstrous little brother was trying to save him from death by that black sword in the boy's pale hands.

But it did not last. Unlike when someone attacked Gaara himself, Gaara's mind was the thing keeping the sand from his brother, and Gaara's mind was not faster than the sand's. The next time the boy attacked, and the sand stood up in front of Kankurou, whom was confused and unable to follow the fast fight, the enemy stopped the attack midway... and seemed to disappear. When he reappeared, Kankurou had already fallen, the boy having stabbed him in the back.

But the boy did not have time to even smile, the pleasure of killing and fighting overcame the shame and angst he felt for them. Once again, the sand flew towards him. He threw himself backwards, only one leg on the ground at a time, and he seemed to dance as he tried to block away the sand trying to get him. But while it was a good thing the sand was not strong enough to suppress his attacks, the blade slicing through the sand like butter now, where he wanted it away, it could not force the brown grains back.

Many times, he only barely managed to stay out of the way. Gaara was angry, and so, the movements of the sand faster. But the boy managed to get close to him, and the black blade flew directly towards Gaara's face.

* * *

You know, halfway into the fighting, I realized the similarity to the battle against Kimimaro. A big field of grass, a person with white hair which move so fast Gaara's sand can't follow, someone moving as if dancing, the opponent using a blade. And I have begun to try and remember when it was I made my OC, to see, if it was at the moment where I seriously liked Kimi. Don't think it was, but their fighting style is so similar I still may have based the OC on him.

Anyway, I hope you can accept his strength. I know it may look Mary-sueish, but if it had not been this character I love, it would have been someone else with the same strength and maybe a different weapon. Now, the whole story is based on what he is, and I will tell you that he is not human. What he then is, you will get to know later in the story.

His name fits Gaara, but I don't think I will tell you right now. He comes from a place where it always rains, and never had seen the sun before he was assigned by his master and was sent on his job. He has never seen snow, hail, and the only animals he has seen is pigs, cows, cats and dogs. Not even the sound of birds is a part of where he has used his whole life.

You will get to know him more. Right now, I will just apologize for the grammar.

Enjoy in joy ^^


	3. Hunter or Prey

Finally back from the dead! You know how you can be kind of stressed out, or at least busy, and when you finally fall down in the couch and have a vacation you are suddenly able to write and can't stop? That is how my every Christmas vacation is ^^ Suddenly using most of my time in the house with nothing of the regular, every-day life bothering for my attention makes me unable to stop my writing, despite just having gotten a Nintendo DS and having my interest in Pokemon reawakened with Diamond and Black colors!

Reviews:

TgrezzTail: Sorry it took so long. I hope it helps to know that my main story, Bound to Change, is done in four or five chapters, so this one will be moving on soon.

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Warnings: See chapter one.

I just hope some people will still be interested in the story.

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Hunter or Prey

* * *

The blade was directing itself towards his head, its sharp edges cutting through the sand trying to protect him. It hit his face, parted his head and got out on the other side. The boy jumped backwards, watching the lack of blood confusedly. This way of fighting was not normal for him, and the body he had just destroyed fell to the ground as a pile of sand, making him even more confused.

The ground moved beneath him, and he jumped backwards as fast as he could, landing on his right leg and turning his head slowly around to find out where his enemy was. The ground moved again beneath his feet, and he hurriedly jumped back before he could get sucked down or whatever else that sand would do. He glimpsed the enemy ten steps behind and whipped around, his steps fast and precise as he closed in on the other, who watched him unmovingly.

Gaara directed the sand to the small figure again, trying to catch him from both the front and behind, but with an eye-dazzling jump he managed to get out of the way and continued to close in on his target. He swirled in and out of the mountains of sands coming to crush him, and in the cold eyes of the redheaded boy fear was spreading. This was like the weirdo in the green suit, except for the fact that this one was not tiring out, was immediately able to break his defense, and seemed to be, if possible, just as fast or faster than the teen when those powers he held were forced to open.

He did not mind the physical pain… it felt so _real_ when it happened… but he did not want to die. Dying was for prey, not hunters, and he was never the prey. He had to make sure that was not going to be.

He tried to be more offensive, to make the sand move faster, and a slight worry made his stomach knot in a way he had not met before. Temari's wound did not seem bad, but Kankurou had been stabbed in the back, and they might need help. He had to do this quickly, and do whatever he was able to for those two. Even if he did not know how, he had to help them!

But these thoughts were not in the conscious part of his mind, only in the feeling of his body that made his determination to kill the other even stronger than the strongest lust for blood he had ever felt. He finally moved, lifting his hands to put more pressure on the movements of the sand, getting more and more determined to win this.

The smaller felt the difference and was just a swordcut away from his target when he was forced to jump backwards again, landing on the tip of his toes of his left foot and was off again, leaping to the side, landing on the toes of his right foot, going forward again to the redhead and ending fully on the ball of his left foot while the right drew forward with more speed than force.

The sand tried to stop his movement, but the foot passed through, hitting Gaara in the chest and sending him flying towards the rocks with the venomous moss. As if a miracle had happened he was able to concentrate on the parted sand while still in the air, and it caught the foot before the stranger could draw it back. He stood up again and smiled as the boy tried to slice the sand away from his foot with the sword, then sent it off, throwing the small human towards the trees on the far side of the field.

The boy hit the trunk feet first and jumped back into the air and closer to the redhead without even seeming hurt from the collision, but found that he was immediately surrounded by sand once more. He managed to get the a fraction of footing of the moving sand grabbing for his front and jumped towards the ground again, and down there, he moved his feet fast again to get out of the way from the oceans of sand once more. The sword in his hand flung at a wall that rose before him, only just managing to get past it before it closed behind him in an attempt to crush him. Then he continued forward, going for Gaara again, and his agility made it possible for him to still avoid the constant assault of sand.

Despite the fuel of worry unconsciously driving his actions, Gaara was losing more chakra than he liked, and he was searching for a way to drive the other back more effectively. The black blade of the sword reached for his face and he was forced to take a step back not to get hit by it. Now he even _moved_. He nearly tripped over one of the giant stones as he stepped, and threw himself to the side as the blade sliced towards the ground, trying to cleave his body in half.

_Let me help you_, a voice said in his head as he used the sand to push himself away from the boy. _Give yourself to me once again, and the blood of this beast will seep. We want it to seep, do we not? We want to taste it and feel it and smell how good it is. Fall asleep, child, just fall asleep._

He was contemplating whether he should do so or not when those stones demanded his attention, for just the glimpse of a second. An idea reached his mind, and a smirk broadened on his face. Those pupil-less eyes gleamed with that insanity able to strike fear into even the bravest heart, and the fight had stayed still for a few seconds after his dodge.

The boy stood on one leg once again, the other leg on the standing one, the foot of the free leg resting a little lower on the knee of its standing counterpart. His hands were rounded in front of him, the sword resting against both of his palms and the pointy end reaching downwards for the ground. The all-black eyes tried to copy the faint movements they had caught in the turquoise at his front, trying to find the reason for the sudden change in the other's face, and obvious fear were spreading on the more childish, already very worried face. He knew something drastic was about to change the course of the battle, and that it had filled his enemy with a dangerous lust.

'I will win this battle myself and make you proud, right mother? I have a plan.'

The demon inside his head sought for the thoughts that had reached his vessel, and his satisfaction broadened in the chest of the boy as if it was his own happiness, making him filled with even more bloodlust. _I like your way of thinking. You have become a very good child; a very clever child._

The smirk on the redheaded boy's face broadened a little more as he guided the sand around the bottom of the stones he and his siblings had formerly been sitting on, but he did it so carefully and silently between the long straws of grass so his enemy could not see it. The white-haired boy began to tremble, and if it was of fear or anticipation it was impossible to decide even if the fear was ingrained in his face.

Finally he no longer was able to stand still and wait, and he took the sword fully in his left hand and moved. Nearly having adapted to the incredible speed of the boy, Gaara made his move the second he felt the other begin his run, lifting the stones up and rolling towards his victim. The boy saw this and made a somersault to get out of the way from the rolling boulders. Only to be hit with the real attack of Gaara's.

The second wave of sand was not filled with boulder, only that toxic moss, and it hit the boy and made him fly back like had it been a wave of water. He was once again able to find some way to jump to the side, gracefully landing on the ground beside the sand that had tried to drown him. Then an ear piercing scream erupted from his lips, and he fell to the ground on all fours, his whole body trembling. Even from where Gaara stood, he could see blisters and abscesses form on the pale skin, filling most of the right side of the smaller's face and arm.

The smaller tried to touch it, but winced the moment the tips of his fingers met with the sore skin. The redhead was utterly satisfied with the reaction he had gotten, and even more satisfied with the praise he was getting in his inner ear. Then he lifted his hand again, ready to finish the battle. Ready to get the thrill, feel the relief and smell that delicious blood. He was ready to feel alive once more.

The sand reached for the small, paining form, and the black eyes looked up with another wave of fear in his eyes. He jumped back at the last second and reached a one-legged stance, again moving with elegance. But his sword was gone from his hands, lying where he had fallen, and a new kind of fear reached his face than when he saw it. It was not like when he had seen the smirk on the redhead's face. This fear was filled with another kind of desperation than before and was utterly terrified.

He ran towards it, the sand reaching for him for every second step. He swerved around, and it was as though every wave of sand was his partner in a bloody dance, every new step more of a jump and a dive or a leap than the regular put-one-foot-in-front-of-the-other normal persons preferred. His speed was not affected by much at the pain his face showed for every movement. These movements had gotten less precise, though, by the haze the pain and poison created in his mind, and the sand continuously scraped again his skin, damaging it even more than the moss already had.

He when he reached the sword, Gaara created a barrier around it, realizing only then what the boy's target had been. Turning away to get the barrier behind his back, he leaped to the air and flew over it with less than the width of a finger and landed on his hands with the hilt of the sword beneath the right palm. He balanced himself, reaching the ground behind his head with his feet and got to stand again just in time to jump to the side, a new mass of sand trying to bury him.

It was the first time Gaara noticed his enemy out of breath, and his smirk broadened when he realized the poison had more effect than he thought. It was getting harder for the other to breathe, and that was absolutely great. This person was strong, stronger in battle than most Gaara had ever met… And now he got the honor to kill him.

The fly was annoying, though, and continued to evade the attempts to slap it. It moved closer and closer, like it had done before, slicing the sand with its sword and turning and swirling and dancing and jumping around the attacks Gaara bombarded it with. But the demon no longer felt threatened by the speed of the victim, already able to taste the blood of his prey.

Maybe this was why it all went wrong.

The boy continued to get closer, continued to evade and continued to having a harder and harder time breathing. And in a sudden flash, he made a backwards jump that was so fast, so long and so precise that he ended behind Gaara without the redhead even realizing it before the second he had to save himself was past. The black blade pierced his back, going through flesh, missing a lung with so little distance that the spongy organ touched it when the redhead gasped in surprise at the pain and filled it with air and breaking a rib on its way through his chest.

The sandshield that was still flying behind the demon's vessel had been stabbed right through in the same movement that had hit the redhead's back, and the hole in shield floated around the blade in what could have been described as a confused manner if you thought it able to think.

Then Gaara slowly turned his head to the side just as the boy was about to draw his blade back to finish his job, and the flying sand grabbed his arm hard. The demon in the body of the redhead was what the stranger met in the turquoise eyes, and a smile grazed the preteen's lips. "Well done. You wounded me." The grip of the sand was getting unbearably tight, and the stranger tried to drag himself free. "Now, _you die!_"

The sand was creeping up his arm, reaching for more vital parts of his body, and in the desperate fight to get away, he accidently twisted the sword around, this time cutting the lung and scraping again the others spine. Gaara cried out in pain, instinctual actions making his sand crushing the part of the boy's arm that was already surrounded.

Where Gaara had simply cried, the boy _screamed_, his agony so strong the part of him that was not held up by the flying sand collapsed. His eyes were lowered, tears streamed down his dusty and blistered cheeks, and his breathing was getting more and more painful as the parts that had been touched by the moss had begun to swell. Half of his neck was covered in those blisters and abscesses, and that meant his windpipe was getting pressured and tightened.

"P-please, sir. I-I had to kill you. I was ordered. I-I d-did not want to, s-sir, I promise, I did not want to. P-please, we-we do not both h-have to d-die." He sounded so desperate and begging, but Gaara did not care. He was used to and loved when they asked him for mercy. It confirmed him in his doing, that he was truly _real_. And the sand continued to crawl.

Blood was pouring out of both of them, from Gaara's chest and the boy's crushed arm. Gaara felt a dizziness he had never experienced before and stared confusedly down at his body when it began to sway. The smaller continued to beg, trying to pry the sand away with the free hand, which was the one that had been in contact with the moss. Then Gaara collapsed too, with the sword still halfway through his chest. The loss of blood was too much for him.

The sand gave in when Gaara lost half of his consciousness, his eyes staring blindly at the grass they laid in. His vision was blurred. What was this feeling? Why was he getting so weak? He was quite sure he could not move his body properly… just as he was quite sure this feeling did not come from loss of chakra.

He barely registered the sound of footsteps and did not acknowledge the presence of other humans even when the blurred form of a shoe came into his view. He felt something touch him, and the lack of reaction from the sand made him decide it was not of ill intent… Wonder if his siblings were awake again? Maybe they would help him. This was such a weird feeling… What was happening…?

He felt what he thought had to be the sword getting removed, and the sand reacted at his pain, trying to push the stranger away. But it did not seem to surprise whoever was trying to help him, and he had succeeded in removing the sword totally from his body by his fast movements.

A face came into view as someone guided his head upwards, but the turquoise eyes were far too blurred to make it out. "Do not dare to fall asleep, Gaara," a voice warned him, a voice he recognized but did not remember. The face in front of him seemed white at the top and black at the bottom, near nothing with the color of human skin. And this person knew his name, whoever it was. "Do not dare to lose consciousness." It was so familiar…

So familiar…

* * *

Finally the third chapter of the story is here. Naruto's arch begins in the next chapter, whenever that will be up. I won't promise you anymore than that not a year will pass before I send it. If it then is within two weeks or ten months I cannot say.

Enjoy in joy ^^


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